They had ridden some time in silence, when Doristella, rallying the knight for his taciturnity, proposed to beguile the way with the relation of her adventures. The offer was gratefully received, and the damsel began her story as follows:—
"My father, king Doliston," said she, "had two daughters, the eldest of whom, while yet a child, was carried off by a thief from the shore of Lissa. Of this daughter, who was the promised spouse of Theodore the son of a neighbouring king, nothing was ever afterwards heard."
"And what was the name of the mother?" exclaimed Flordelis; but Brandimart having checked her for her interruption, Doristella continued her narrative in her own way. "My intended brother-in-law," said the damsel, "still kept up his connection with my family, and he and I soon became mutually enamoured of one another. The young man at length unbosomed himself to my father, and demanded me in marriage; but my father, to his mortification, told him, that he had that very day promised me to the wretch, whom you slew in the palace.
"To this wretch, named Usbeck of Bursa, a Turcoman by nation, was I wedded; a man valiant in the field, but, as to the rest, little capable of winning a lady's love. This man, who was jealous in proportion to the grounds he gave me for disgust, was compelled to join an expedition against Vatarone the emperor of Greece. Departing, he left me in care of a slave called Gambone, a monster of deformity, whom he commanded never to stir from my side. He had not been long absent, when Theodore arrived at Bursa, and having corrupted Gambone, obtained access to my bed.
"Our intercourse was long continued, to our mutual satisfaction, when Usbeck arrived suddenly one night at Bursa, and demanded instant entrance into his house. Our courage did not desert us under these circumstances, and Theodore, slipping down stairs in the dark, escaped at the same time that Usbeck was admitted. Our danger, however, did not end here; for my husband's suspicions had been awakened by his detention at the door, and searching every part of my chamber, he found a mantle which my lover had left behind him in his retreat.
"His suspicions being now confirmed, he burst into a transport of jealous fury, and ordered the slave Gambone for instant execution. According to the custom of the country, his other slaves were conducting him for that purpose, through the city with a horn sounding before him, when Theodore met the procession, and falling upon the criminal, reproached him, amid a shower of blows, with having robbed him of his mantle. This trick of Theodore's, who was unknown to Usbeck, saved the slave, and effaced the suspicions which he entertained of my fidelity. New offences, however, on my part, for I still continued my intercourse with Theodore, renewed his jealousy, and he at last shut me up in the enchanted palace whence you delivered me; though it was not then kept by the giant and serpent, which were the afterwork of a necromancer who wrought for him."
The damsel was here interrupted by an outcry, and the party was instantly set upon by thieves. These were, however, beaten off, and their leader taken prisoner by Brandimart. He, throwing himself at the feet of the cavalier, entreated him not to carry him to Lissa, as he dreaded the vengeance of Doliston, the prince of that country, for having formerly carried off his eldest daughter, whom he had sold to the lord of the Sylvan Tower.
Brandimart, however, who has secret reasons (as will be shortly seen) for being pleased at this account, insists upon carrying him to Lissa; and arriving before Doliston's capital, finds it besieged by Theodore, in revenge for the monarch's having refused him Doristella. All now is cleared up. Flordelis turns out to be the missing daughter of Doliston, who had been wooed by Brandimart in the Sylvan Tower; and no further obstacle existing to the union of Theodore and Doristella, these two, as well as Brandimart and Flordelis, are united in marriage; Doliston and Theodora having previously made peace.
After long festivities in honour of these double espousals, Brandimart and Flordelis, still anxious to pursue Orlando, embark for France with a prosperous wind. This, however, changes; increases to a tempest; and finally drives them on the shores of Carthage. Here Brandimart, less anxious for his own safety than for that of Flordelis and his companions, conceals his being a Christian, and announcing himself only as son of Monodontes, king of the Distant Isles, declares that it was his purpose to visit Agramant in Biserta.
He accordingly sets off, always attended by Flordelis, for that capital; where he is magnificently received, and is afterwards carried off by Agramant, together with Rogero, on his expedition against France.